BOULDER, Co. – The odds were stacked against the St. Bonaventure men's basketball team.

Tuesday night's first round NIT contest at the CU Events Center between the Bonnies and fourth-seeded Colorado came on just 50 hours' notice at a site 1,538 miles and two time zones away from home.

Throw in a very formidable Pac-12 opponent in the form of a young and rising Colorado squad that finished fourth in its conference to earn hosting rights and the Bonnies certainly faced what looked to be an uphill battle to keep their season alive.

In the end, none of those concerns – nor those about playing at over 5,300 feet and adjusting to altitude – proved to be too much for Bona and its senior class which refused to end their season on a down note.

St. Bonaventure earned a spot into the round of 16 with a 76-68 win over the Buffaloes and will play Oklahoma this weekend at a time to be determined.

"I thought we had a lot going against us with flying four hours, the altitude, and coming off a tough loss," head coach Mark Schmidt said. "Give our guys credit, they couldn't have played better. In the second half we played much better defense and we made shots. It was a hostile environment, but the guys really overcame everything. I was proud of how we did dealing with adversity in the last week or so and getting this draw coming out here. Everything was against us, but I thought our players did a great job bouncing back."

Jalen Adaway led all scorers with 17 points while Osun Osunniyi posted a double-double of 13 points and 10 rebounds. Kyle Lofton delivered 15 points and eight assists while Jaren Holmes finished with 13 points, six assists and Dominick Welch had 12 points, eight boards as each starter played a key role.

Along with everything else the Bonnies had to battle, they also had to fight back from a double-digit second half deficit.

Colorado (21-12) owned a 10-point lead two minutes into the second half when the Bonnies roared back.

A 10-0 Bonaventure run capped by a Holmes three made the Buffaloes lead a thing of the past just four minutes after Colorado's high-water mark.

From there it was a battle, but the Bonnies pushed ahead, 62-57, following a dunk from Osunniyi with 7:30 remaining.

Colorado responded to tie the game at 68-all following a traditional three-point play by Tristan da Silva with 2:25 to go as Osunniyi was whistled for his fourth foul.

On the next trip down the court, Bonnies fans were treated to something they've enjoyed so much of the past four years: the connection between Osunniyi and Lofton. Bona's senior point guard lobbed to Osunniyi who finished with the lay-in for the lead.

Colorado would never even the score again.

Bona's scored the game's final eight points, slowly pulling away.

A jumper from Lofton hopped off the front iron and through the net for a two-possession lead at the 1:12 mark and the Bonnies defense stood strong. Colorado began fouling, forcing the Bonnies to the line where they vanquished the memories of last week's heartbreaker in the A-10 quarterfinals as Holmes and Osunniyi each made both tries.

Cue the celebration and the look ahead to battle top-seeded Oklahoma, which defeated Missouri State at home earlier in the night.

The Bonnies set the tone early. 

Jalen Adaway opened the game with a soaring dunk to begin the scoring, starting a 10-2 run to lift the lid following back-to-back treys from Lofton and Welch.

The Buffaloes battled back for a three-point lead at halftime, 39-36, and used a 13-2 break of their own over a 5:37 stretch ending the first half and beginning the second to take their largest lead of 46-36.

The rest of the night would belong to the Brown and White.

GAME NOTES

• The Bonnies made their 17^th appearance in the NIT all-time and first since 2016. St. Bonaventure snapped a five-game NIT losing skid dating back to 1995 as the Bonnies registered their first NIT triumph since an opening round home win over Southern Miss that year.
• This season gives the program 25 combined NCAA and NIT tournament appearances in program history.
• Colorado went 12-6 on home court this season, including a 16-point win over No. 2 Arizona in their previous home game Feb. 26. 
• Bona shot 52 percent for the game while Colorado finished at a 43 percent clip. The Buffaloes won the battle of the boards, 31-25, but the Bonnies led in both paint points (34-30) and from beyond the perimeter where they went 10-for-20 and Colorado finished 7-25. 
• Lofton moved into 14th place in Bonnies career scoring, passing Rocky Llewellyn, '89 (1,579 points).
• Osunniyi moved into 10th place all-time in Atlantic 10 history for blocks with 297. 
• Lofton tied the school record for assists in an NIT game, matching Shandue McNeill who also had eight helpers in the 1995 win over Southern Miss along with Jim Baron who had eight assists in a 1977 win over Villanova. 
• Bona posted their sixth win of the year after rallying from double digits down. the Bonnies also won for the ninth time when trailing at half. 
• St. Bonaventure evened the all-time series with Colorado as the two teams met for the first time since 1942. Tuesday's win was the sixth all-time for the Bonnies over Pac-12 members and their first since the 2018 First Four victory over UCLA.